BRIEFLY

An investor offered $40 a share for Cluett.

The board of directors of Cluett, Peabody & Co., saying it was studying the proposal, asked company stockholders to delay any decision on a $256-million tender offer by a company controlled by California investor Paul Bilzerian. Sacramento-based CPC Acquisition, which already holds or has options on 24% of Cluett, Peabody's roughly 8.4 million outstanding shares, on Monday made an unsolicited bid for the remaining shares. In August, the firm, which makes Arrow shirts, received an informal proposal of $40 a share from Bilzerian.